Cultures and Context Contemporary Latino

Midterm 1

Two ways that pan-ethnic terms limit our ability to understand communities?

By using pan-ethnic terms like Latino, Hispanic, etc, it may limit our ability to understand these communities because it’s a broad term to describe a community that is filled with various other types of communities. They oversimplify the rich cultural, linguistic, and historical diversity within these groups. Additionally, these labels can erase the unique identities and experiences of individuals within specific ethnic subgroups, such as Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and Cubans. Another limitation is that they can create confusion and exclusion because groups like Brazilians are included or excluded when it’s focused on their geography or colonial history.

Two reasons why pan-ethnic terms remain useful?

Despite their limitations, pan-ethnic terms like Latino can unite diverse groups for political and social causes, providing a shared identity in advocacy. They also help raise awareness about issues affecting these communities at a broader level, fostering solidarity among different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Debates over the term Latinx?

The term Latinx emerged as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina; it aims to be more inclusive of non-binary and LGBTQ+ individuals within these communities. However, it has sparked debates regarding its acceptance, cultural relevancy, and use among different generations.

What is the Latino population in 2023?

The Latino population in the United States is estimated to be over 65.2 million in 2023, reflecting significant growth and diversity within the community. They make up about 19.5% of the total population.

What is the main reason for the U.S. Latino population growth today?

Instead of migration, it’s linked to the birth rates among Latinos who already live in the country.

States with the largest Latino population?

California with about 15.6 million, Texas with about 11.5 million, and Florida with around 5.6 million.

Median age of Latinos vs non-hispanic whites

Most of the Latino population is quite young with the median age being 31 years, the non-hispanic whites have a median age of 44 years.

Two views on incorporating Mexicans after the Mexican-American War

One hand, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 promised that Mexicans who remained in annexed territories would be granted equal protection under the law, but some politicians believed that Mexicans were lower than them and “half-civilized,” which allowed them to justify dismissing Mexicans to a lower position in the U.S. Southwest.

Percentage of Latinos who are U.S. citizens?

By 2021, 81% of Latinos living in the US are U.S. citizens and it increased 7% from 74% in 2010.

Beliefs central to Manifest Destiny

Three major beliefs that were central and important were that Americans believed they had a divine right to expand westward, they believed that they had the duty to spread their civilization, democracy to people they considered “lesser”, and lastly that this expansion was inevitable and natural.

The Jones Act (1917)

Passed in 1917, this granted Puerto Ricans statutory U.S. citizenship. They were eligible for military service and being drafted, but they lacked political rights and imposed English as the official language on the island. 

Meaning of statuory citizenship

U.S. citizenship is granted by an act of Congress but it isn’t a constitutional guarantee. This makes their status more precarious because Congress can take it away. It isn’t protected by the 14th amendment.

Mexican resistance to state violence in Texas (1910-1920)

Vernacular history-making, where communities documented and publicly remebered atrocities commited by Texas Rangers with memorials. To preserve their memories.

Two examples of how the Platt Amendment shaped U.S. Cuba relations

The Platt Amendment of 1901 shaped Cuban-U.S. relations by granting the United States the right to intervene in Cuban Affairs whenever it felt necessary to protect U.S. interests. It also gave the U.S. control over Guantanamo Bay, which remains a part of the U.S. military base today.

Insular Cases

A series of cases decided by the Supreme Court in 1901-1922 determined the constitutional status of U.S. territories acquired after the Spanish-American War. They made a category for “unincorporated territories” such as PR and Guam, and that the Constitution did not fully count. It’s okay because the court said they’re foreign and they’re populated by aliens.

La Matanza

An uprising led by Agustin Farabundo Marti, known as La Matanza, the Salvadoran military regime responded with brutal repression and killed around 30,000 Salvadorans. 

PR 2020 Referendum

In 2020, the referendum on Puerto Rico’s political status, the majority of voters on the island supported U.S. statehood rather than independence.

U.S. corporate control of Cuba before the revolution

By the late 1950s, before the Cuban Revolution, American companies controlled about 90% of Cuba’s mines and 80% of its public utilities. This deep foreign economic dominance fueled resentment and helped build support for revolution

Central American country with largest Indigenous population

Guatemala, 40%-51% identifies as Indigenous.

Rafael Trujillo

Dictator of the Dominican Republic, and he ruled with an authoritarian grip from 1930 until he got assassinated in 1961. His regime was infamous for political repression, corruption, and human rights abuses.

Two political rights that Puerto Ricans on the island lack

Cannot vote for the president of the United States, and they lack voting representation in Congress

Three ways the U.S. assisted Cuban migrants

Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 allowing Cubans to apply for permanent residency after one year, they were given access to refugee resettlement programs with housing, job training, and financial assitance. Lastly, unlike the Central ACmericans, cubans were able to recieve preferential asylum treatment.

First democratically elected leader of Guatemala

The first democratically elected leader of Guatemala was Jacobo Arbenz, elected in 1951. His presidency ended in 1954 when he was overthrown in CIA-backed coup that instead installed Carlos Castillo Armas who had been known for his reform policies that threatened U.S. companies like United Fruit

Asylum approval rates for Salvadorans and Guatemalans

Between 1983 and 1990, the asylum applications for asylum that Central Americans applied for were denied. Only 3% Salvadoran and 1% Guatemalan applicants.

Violence during the Guatemala’s Civil War

200k people were killed or disappeared during the war and 83% of the identified victims were Maya and the atrocities were committed by the Guatemalan military and state security forces.

Performance Pieces

Logan Garcia-Pena highlights how Dominican artists have used performance to critique racial and national belonging. One example is the creation of public art pieces that reclaim Dominican identitiy while rejecting exclusionary narratives of anti-blackness. These performances turn everyday spaces into political stages challenging the U.S. and DOminican state ideologies.

Discuss two ways that Central American were treated dufferently than Cubans when seeking political asylum in the United States

Cubans were foten granted a pathway to citizenship through Cuban Adjustment Act. 

One major way that climate change affects migration from Central America

It damaged agricultural livelihoods and increased droughts and extreme eather. Crops failed and there was food insecurity.

What year did the Dominican Republic eliminate birthright citizenship?

2013

How did the elimination of birthright citizenship impact Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans living in the Dominican Republic?

It stripped their fundamental rights, by denying citizenship to people where born in tere born in the Dominican Republic. It created from systemic racial discrimination and anti-Haitianism.